Find Your Love
by AINSLEE-LOVE
Summary: Set after Maureen and Joanne break up at their engagement party, this is RENT until Angel's funeral and then POST-RENT after. AU.
1. I'm More Than Just An Option

_okay so another story! yay! i'm not sure how long this is going to be, but there will definitely be more to it! it's going to be set between the time joanne and maureen broke up at their engagement party, to october, which was when angel died. i'm not sure if angel is going to die, i looooove, her, but at the same time the funeral is such a sweet moment between joanne and maureen! i'll have to see! maybe i'll have someone else die! =D let me know your thoughts on that matter, btw. and now, read on!_

* * *

CHAPTER 1

* * *

It had been two weeks since they had broken up. Two weeks since they had yelled at each other at their own engagement party, each one asking the other to 'Take me for what I am'. Obviously neither had been willing or able to do that, and they had called it quits that cold February day. Since then Maureen hadn't really felt like hanging around with the other bohemians as much as before. She had a protest about AIDS that she had cancelled. She had never gone to that audition for the off-Broadway play. After the fiasco at the party she'd gone back to the apartment she shared with Joanne, all the while praying Joanne wouldn't be there.

She wasn't. It made things much easier. In an hour she had packed her stuff, it wasn't much, most of the stuff in there belonged to Joanne, all she had was a few pictures and clothes. Then she had called Mark, who had looked kind of optimistic, (was he ever going to get over her?) and he had helped her take it all back to his place. Well, her place now too. Maureen was once again roommates with Mark, Roger, and Collins. Oh and lets not forget Angel, who had moved in with the boho's herself a few weeks ago.

Mark was being oddly nice and said since Collins and Angel had her old room, he'd take the couch and she could have his room. He couldn't share with Roger, because well, Mimi was in there all the time. Although Roger was thinking about moving downstairs into Mimi's place, in which case Mark would have a room again. Maureen had smiled and looked grateful-but really she hated it. Mark's room was small, cold, and full of all of his stupid junk. He had cleared out his drawers though, so she at least had a place to put her clothes, and everything else just stayed in a box.

She hadn't seen Joanne since the party. The gang had gone out several times to Life since then for dinner and Angel and Mimi had both told her Joanne had been there, and she had looked just as miserable as she did everyday. Maureen, in turn, had yelled that she didn't care anymore, she was _so_ over Joanne.

Everyone knew it was a lie, but nobody said anything about it. Except Mark. One night after he had one drink too many he had asked her if they 'could make us work now'. Maureen had laughed and shook her head, but ever since then she had been thinking about it.

Why not? She had to try and move on sometime right? Besides, imagine how jealous Joanne would feel if she saw her with Mark. She would admit to herself that was the main reason she was thinking about it, to make Joanne jealous and try and get her back. Because she was too stubborn to try and talk to her and admit she missed her.

So why not do this with Mark? Besides the fact of course, that Mark only cared about his camera and never paid any fucking attention to her.

These were the thoughts the drama queen was pondering on as the door to the apartment slid open and Angel walked in with Mimi, both dressed in skirts and boots and declared that they were all going to go out to dinner like the old times.

"I don't wanna…." whined Maureen, pouting at her two friends.

Collins emerged from his bedroom, smoking a joint. "When are we leaving?" he asked.

"Now," answered Mimi, then called out, "Roger, get your ass out here! We're going to dinner!" she said the last part excitedly, it had been awhile since all of them had been together. Well, mainly it was Maureen missing. So her and Angel had decided they were going to snap her out of her depression.

"I have nothing to wear," Maureen lied, laying back on the couch as Mark came out of the bathroom, pulling on his scarf.

"Nonsense chica, get up," commanded Angel, dragging her off to her bedroom.

Fifteen minutes later the diva was back in the room in a pair of tight black leather pants and a white tank top, her hair as curly and messy as ever, and a leather jacket over her tank. On her feet were combat boots.

"Oh, good job Angel!" complimented Mimi, to which Collins said:

"She looks like she always does." Angel smacked him on the arm and Maureen grinned, then finally said. "Alright I'll go. But only if you come to the Kink Club with me tomorrow!" she asked Mimi.

"Sorry, I've got work," replied the dancer, grabbing Roger's hand. Maureen rolled her eyes and Mark quickly spoke up.

"I'll go with you."

Everyone gave him a funny look, especially Mimi and Angel, who were pulling for team Joanne and Maureen, and then were even more surprised when Maureen smiled and said okay.

"Weird," Mimi muttered under her breath as the six friends left the loft to meet up with the last member of their group.

* * *

Half an hour later they were all scrambling to get inside Life and out of the cold, Mimi and Maureen hugging themselves in an effort to warm up as Mark and Roger pushed their usual tables together and Angel assured the manager that they could pay tonight. Joanne hung back a little with Collins until the tables were together and they could all sit. Roger sat down with Mimi on his lap, Collins and Angel did the same, Joanne sat next to Collins and then Mark sat across from her. Maureen made her mind up in an instant.

She sat on Marks lap.

Mimi stared at her with an open mouth, looking around to make sure everyone had noticed.

"So what are we all getting?" asked Angel, trying to divert the attention.

Mark simply looked like his birthday had come early.

"Nothing with meatless balls!" shouted Roger and Mimi nodded in agreement. Maureen shrugged and said, "I'll have whatever Marky's getting," then gave him a big, overdramatic smile.

Hey if she was going to do this, she was going to do it right.

Joanne struggled for a moment to appear neutral and indifferent, and not like she wanted to drag Maureen off of Mark. She wasn't as good as Maureen at hiding her true feelings and emotions.

She gave her order and of course they also ordered wine and beer. And now they had to wait for dinner.

Roger and Mimi got right into passing the time and started making out.

Angel rolled her eyes while Maureen shouted, "Ew, get a room. We're about to eat here."

Roger looked up for a second just to say, "It wasn't gross when you were doing it."

Maureen gave him a glare, glancing quickly at Joanne to see her expression, but Joanne was talking with Angel now.

So she turned to Mark instead, trying to start a conversation about a possible protest she wanted to do.

"You know it'll be like the Cyber Land one, but I was thinking this time…"

She broke off when she realized Mark wasn't listening, he was holding up his camera and filming his friends.

Now she really remembered why she had left him.

"Oh my god Mark, why don't you just take that thing to bed and marry it!" she shrilled loudly, causing everyone to look at her. There, that was better, attention.

Mark looked confused. "I mean, we're going out now. Wouldn't you rather spend time with your own girlfriend!" asked Maureen overdramatically.

Okay so they weren't going out. Nobody had to know that, and it wasn't like Mark would contradict her.

"Sure," said Mark, looking slightly confused as he zoomed the camera up to Maureen's face.

Alright that was it, she had had it. She didn't care if he was filming her, it was just the fact he was filming period that was driving her nuts.

"Gimme that!" she said and snatched the camera out of his hands, climbing onto the table with it. Mark stood up quickly, getting kind of red.

"Give me back my camera Maureen." he demanded.

"No!" she smirked, pointing it down at him. "Let's see how you like to be filmed all fucking day." And with that she started walking backwards on the table.

"Maureen, I'm not kidding! Give me the camera before you hurt her. It."

"Her! It's a her! Did you give her a name too Marky? What is it?" taunted Maureen, taking several more steps back as Mark got up on the table too.

"Maureen, I'm not kidding!" he yelled, now really pissed off, and he lunged for her.

Until now all the other bohemians were enjoying the scene. Roger looked like he was having fun, sipping his beer as he watched. Angel and Collins were laughing and clapping. Mimi had her mouth open as her eyes went from Maureen to Mark and back. And Joanne was watching the exchange although her mind was on the words Maureen had said a few minutes before about her and Mark having gotten back together.

_How could she have gotten back with him?_ she thought to herself, _We've only been broken up two weeks…_

A loud thump brought her back to her senses. Apparently when Mark had lunged Maureen had jumped back, thinking there were more tables than there actually was. So of course she had fallen off the table, her heels making her slip and the resulting scene:

She was laying on half a chair that had broken, her arm was bleeding and Mark's camera…

Well, lets just say while La Vie Boheme might not be dead, his camera sure was.

Maureen looked stunned for a few moments, after all, she had just landed on her head, but then she sat up as all the boho's got up and went to crowd her, Angel kneeling beside her and asking her if she was alright. Joanne wanted to be the one doing that, but she too had some stubborn in her, so she hung back a little, looking pretty concerned.

Mark, however, seemed to be in shock. "My…camera…" he whispered, picking up the largest piece of it.

"You killed it!" he yelled suddenly, looking at Maureen angrily.

"Don't you mean I killed her?" she said a bit shakily, frowning at the blood gushing from her arm and muttering "Gross." Apparently someone didn't know when to leave well enough alone.

Mark seemed to have snapped and lost his mind. He dropped the piece of his camera and jumped on Maureen.

"Get the hell off of me!" she shrieked and the two of them began to wrestle around on the ground as Mark tried to strangle her and she tried to kick him off. Mimi and Collins could only watch in shock. Roger laughed and that left Joanne and Angel to break things up.

Angel grabbed Mark and Joanne grabbed Maureen, both pulling them apart. "Let go of me, he was the one trying to kill me!" whined Maureen, freeing one hand and raising it to her stinging cheek.

"Oh my god. You scratched my face! I'm going to have a scar on my face now!" she whined in true diva fashion, her eyes filling with tears. "What the fuck Mark, it's just a camera!" she yelled at him, as Angel held Mark back still.

Mark, meanwhile, was gushing blood from his nose where Maureen had gotten a nice elbow to the face in.

"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT!" yelled Angel over everyone, and their attention turned to her. "You two are going to the hospital to get patched up. Joanne and I will take you," he said, eyeing Joanne, who tentatively nodded. "Good, no sense in ruining everyone's night." said Angel, and the four of them headed outside to get a cab, Angel and Joanne standing between Mark and Maureen. They got in, Mark in the front seat, Angel in the spot behind him in the back seat, Joanne beside Angel in the middle, and Maureen in the left by the window. Angel hadn't planned this seating accidentally either. She was still playing subtle matchmaker even while taking her bleeding friends to the hospital.

Maureen, meanwhile was staring at her reflection glumly in the window, and bleeding onto her jacket.

"Put your coat on chica, you're going to get sick!" said Angel when he noticed she was shivering because she had taken it off to lay her arm on.

"No way, my pants will get full of blood like my shirt," pouted Maureen. Mark rolled his eyes and asked the taxi driver if he could drive slower so Maureen could bleed to death.

"I'm going to be hideous with this scar," muttered Maureen mournfully.

Joanne, meanwhile, couldn't take it anymore. Hiding concern and whatnot was hard work when the person you loved was sitting right beside you. With a sigh she shrugged out of her coat and pulled it around Maureen. "Put this on honeybear, you're going to freeze." she told her as she smoothed her hair back, "And don't worry, the scratch won't scar," she said with an amused smile. She was used to the diva's episodes by now and she knew all she wanted was attention.

"But what if it does?" Maureen asked with a frown as several tears dripped out of her eyes.

"It won't," Joanne told her firmly. She wanted to put her arm around her, but hey, they were still broken up.

Maureen wanted to snuggle into Joanne, but there was no way she was making the first move.

Angel wanted to smack them both and tell them to get a move on already.

And Mark just really wanted to kill Maureen for breaking his camera.

* * *

**A/N- **_OKAY SO THAT'S CHAPTER ONE! I'm really into the song that inspired this, which is 'Find Your Love' by Drake. Let me know what you think of it, I'm going to try and give all of the rent cast parts in it, but mainly cameo-ish parts, the story's focus is Maureen and Joanne after all ;D because I freakin' love the two of them! So give me some feedback! (:_

_-Ainslee (:  
_


	2. Refuse To Be Forgotten

CHAPTER 2

* * *

The taxi dropped them off in front of the entrance to the ER and Angel got out first, getting between Maureen and Mark. Maureen got out slowly, still frowning, her thoughts obviously still on the fact her face might have a scar. Mark was cupping his hand under his nose, mourning his camera and hoping his nose didn't have a bump in it. And Joanne was cold. Maureen, too wrapped up in her own thoughts, didn't really notice this, or anything else, she just wrapped Joanne's coat around herself, putting her arms through the arm holes. Really how much blood had she lost? She was starting to feel dizzy.

Or was this just the drama queen in her?

She was walking behind Mark and Angel because she wasn't really in the mood for another fight at the moment. The four of them got into the waiting room and were informed that because they had minor injuries they'd have to wait a couple of hours to be seen, since there had been some sort of big shoot-out and the ER was busy.

"Great, just what I want, to be stuck in this waiting room for hours!" Maureen exclaimed dramatically. Several people were eyeing Angel funnily because she was dressed in drag. Mark just mumbled about having to be stuck in the waiting room with Joanne and took the seat all the way at the end of the last row. Angel sat down beside him, then Joanne and then Maureen.

"I'm huuuungry!" whined Maureen an hour later, "Because of camera boy I never got to eat my food." she pouted, looking at Angel. Angel sighed then stood up, "Okay chica, I'll get you some food, just don't start anything while I'm gone." Then she skipped off to go find a vending machine.

"Fag," someone said after Angel had left the room. Maureen, who was feeling pretty sleepy around this time from all the boredom had been just about to doze off, but her eyes snapped open.

"What did you say!" she asked angrily, standing up and glaring at the fat guy who had spoken.

"You heard me lady," he said with a grin, he was clearly drunk, and then he checked Maureen out. _Gross,_ she thought to herself.

Joanne, meanwhile, noticed the fat guy checking her girlfriend-ex girlfriend out. Yeah he was ugly but that didn't mean she had to like it.

"Look fat guy, don't talk about my friend alright," Maureen said, crossing her arms. The fat guy stood up and took several steps toward her, asking, "Who are you calling fat?"

"The obese guy behind you, who the fuck do you think?" said Maureen with a smirk, glad she had struck a nerve.

Joanne saw this as a nice time to intervene. Grabbing Maureen's hand she tugged her back down to her seat, telling her to cool it and not start anymore fights tonight.

"Who's that your girlfriend? No wonder, you're a dyke." The guy was half slurring his words now from all the talking he was doing. "You'd rather be with that black bitch than me?" he tacked on and well, that was it, Maureen and Joanne were both pissed now, but of course, Maureen being Maureen meant she had to do something about it.

She gave the guy a right hook to the face.

She had to give him credit, when she was flexing her now very sore knuckles, he wobbled but he didn't fall down. Must have been all of his fat, she figured. "Weebles wobbles but they don't-"

That was all she got out because the guy punched her back and well, she hit the floor out cold.

* * *

Joanne was not pleased with how this night was going. First Angel had called her and told her they were all having dinner together, and yes, tonight that meant Maureen was finally coming along too. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. Maureen and her had been broken up for two weeks, and she missed her every day. Every time she hung out with the boho's since then she was both glad she hadn't been there and disappointed. Glad because it meant she didn't have to see her, because seeing her would hurt. And disappointed because at the same time she just had to see her beautiful Maureen.

Well, not so much hers anymore.

But she had gone along, changing from her work clothes and as soon as they got there it had been a disaster. Maureen had taken a seat on Mark, and declared to a shocked table while talking to him that they were together again. Joanne couldn't hide her face at first, but luckily no one but Mimi had noticed the shock, disappointment and sadness that had flashed across her face before she tried to look indifferent.

Then Maureen had gotten mad at the fact that she wasn't getting any attention. She had taken Mark's camera and started walking backwards on the table and fallen off the end. Joanne had to say that she had been scared for a second when she saw all the blood, but after realizing it was from her arm she relaxed. During Mark and Maureen's fight she kind of wanted to kick Mark, but she had stayed out of it.

Now, though, she was pissed.

First this obese white guy starts on Angel. Then her. Maureen, naturally, had punched him.

Joanne, however, had not expected him to punch her back.

Neither, apparently, had Maureen, because she didn't even try to duck.

She landed on the floor before Joanne could catch her, apparently knocked out. Joanne started towards the guy-Maureen was better at the fighting thing, but then again she was out cold, and nobody punched her girlfriend, - ex-girlfriend, and got away with it. Luckily for her, because she probably would have been the next one knocked out, the security guard got their first and pulled the fat guy away.

Joanne knelt down beside Maureen, rolling her eyes at Mark, who was smirking. "Honeybear are you alright?" she asked, but nope, the diva was still out. She pulled her up and walked her unconscious self to the chairs, laying her out so that now Maureen's body took up three chairs. Then she sat down and pulled her head on her lap.

She shouldn't be doing this. Getting so close, giving her the coat, all of this. They weren't together anymore and it was just going to make those feelings harder to squash and forget.

But she couldn't help herself. She still loved Maureen, and she couldn't just not do nothing. She liked to think, if the roles were reversed, Maureen would do the same for her.

Speaking of the drama queen, her eyes fluttered, already one was a light shade of green-blue. "Pookie?" she asked, using the nickname out of habit as she blinked with confusion and looked up.

"How do you feel baby?" asked Joanne, running her hand through Maureen's long curls, "He hit you pretty hard." she commented, scowling, and just as Angel walked back in.

"My eye hurts. Fix it!" whined Maureen with her signature pout. "I can't honeybear but we can put ice on it later," Joanne told her as she stroked her hair, as Angel took a seat beside Mark and looked from Mark to Maureen laying on the chairs, her head in Joanne's lap and a bruise beginning to form on her eye.

"Mark! I told you no fighting while I was gone!" she said, putting down the chips she had gotten Maureen.

"It wasn't me, some homophobic, racist, fat guy knocked her out." Mark told her, fighting a grin.

"Well why didn't you do anything?" Angel scolded, but Mark never got to reply as the nurse came out then and told them they would now be seen.

* * *

And hour and forty minutes later the four of them were once again in a cab, this time headed towards the loft. Maureen's arm had been stitched up, her scratch disinfected (she had screamed a lot during this part) and she had a spectacular black eye forming, and swelling up for that matter. The diva was now asleep, leaning against Joanne and still wrapped up in her coat.

Mark, as it turned out, did not have a broken nose, it was only a fracture. After a few x-rays (which had taken most of the time) his nose had been deemed fine and he was out of the hospital with a prescription for painkillers and instructions to be careful and gentle around his nose. And a slight bump. Oh, not to mention it was really, really, swollen.

When they got to the loft, Mark stormed up ahead of the group while Joanne woke a sleeping Maureen and paid for the cab. Maureen didn't want to get out it seemed.

"Pookie just leave me here," she mumbled, leaning her head against the seat.

"No, come on, I'm freezing out here," Joanne told her, taking her hand and pulling her out. Maureen wobbled unsteadily and didn't open her eyes, just leaned against Joanne, her face against her shoulder. With a small smile, Joanne began walking her upstairs. They were just entering the loft when Mark stormed out of Maureen's room, carrying a bag and a box, a surprised Collins being told about the night's events by Angel. Roger was nowhere to be seen, because he was downstairs with Mimi.

"So some fat guy also punched her?" Collins was asking, as Mark dumped the box and bag at Joanne and Maureen's feet.

"What's this?" asked Joanne, looking down at the stuff, then up at Mark.

"Her stuff. She can get the hell out. I don't know why the hell I let her move in here to begin with, she's lazy and does nothing but complain and…" someone was clearly still steamed about his nose and camera.

"Mark, you can't kick me out!" whined Maureen sleepily, still leaning against Joanne, although she had woken up enough to realize she was being kicked out.

"Yes I can. Now take your stuff before I throw it out a window."

"But Maaark, were am I supposed to stay?"

"Not my problem. Since you seem so close to Joanne again, stay with her."

"But Mark she dumped me."

Joanne knew there was no point in pointing out the fact that a:

She was still standing right here, or b:

The break-up had been mutual.

"Come on Maureen, you can stay with me tonight." What was she going to do, leave her here so Mark could kick her out and she'd have to sleep in the hallway or something. She could go to Mimi's, but what if Mimi and Roger were out? Nope, she'd take her home for tonight.

* * *

One more taxi cab later, and one trip upstairs with Maureen's stuff, Joanne was once again trying to get a sleepy Maureen out of the taxi. "Come on baby we're here and you can go to sleep now for good." she told her and finally the diva got out of the cab. One very slow trip up the stairs later and Maureen was sitting on the couch looking like she had passed out.

Joanne wondered if they had given her anything for the pain because she had never seen Maureen so out of it.

It took her twenty minutes to get the drama queen out of her clothes, she even got her arm slapped once because as Maureen had said 'I'm not in the mood for kinky now baby.' Finally though she was in one of her old shirts and laying in her bed. Just like old times.

Joanne was surprised to find herself close to tears. She shouldn't of brought her here. Mimi probably had been home.

She was just being stupid and hopeful and trying to cling onto tonight for as long as she could. Because tonight she had Maureen with her.

She thought about sleeping on the couch, or in the other room. But what the hell, she had dug herself in this deep, she might as well bury herself completely.

Joanne lay down in the bed next to Maureen, who rolled over and snuggled into her, sleepily muttering something about a scar.

Joanne couldn't help but smile as she wrapped an arm around Maureen and fell asleep.

* * *

**A/N: **_woah two chapters in one day! damn this song is really working for me! lol. anyway yeah. i hope you like it! (: let me know, feedback and reviews are awesome._

_-Ainslee.  
_


	3. I Took A Chance With My Heart

CHAPTER 3

* * *

When Maureen woke up the following morning she wasn't surprised to wake up alone. After all, for the last two weeks she had been waking up alone, in the loft. And sometimes before that, since Joanne was usually gone by the time she rolled out of bed. She was surprised though, not to wake up in Mark's double-bed but in an all-too-familiar room. And a nice big bed if she said so herself. She groaned and grabbed her head, why did she have the biggest headache ever? What the hell had she been doing last night and how had she ended up in Joanne's bed.

Funnily enough she didn't remember getting drunk.

Sitting up she brushed her messy curls out of her face and through off the covers. She was kind of hot. Since when was February so warm? Maybe the heat was way up or something. She heard noises coming from outside the bedroom which meant Joanne was still here. Great, maybe she could tell her what had gone on last night…

Then she remembered. They had all gone to dinner pretending they were all friends like before. She had been trying to make Joanne jealous and see just what she was missing, so she had pretended to be with Mark. She had taken his camera…it had broken.

Grimacing she made her way to the bathroom connected to Joanne's bedroom. She jumped into a cold shower wondering why her head and face hurt so much.

She had fallen off the table. That must explain the stitches in her arm, she realized, then frowned. Shit, was she supposed to keep them dry or something? It was too late for that now, she mused with a smirk as she continued on with her shower. She remembered Mark trying to kill her. Going to the hospital with Angel and Joanne. And Mark. She had accidentally messed up his nose.

That thought made her smile. Getting out of the shower she remembered that he had kicked her out of the loft. Great, now she was obviously homeless. With a sigh she made her way over to the mirror, grabbing a towel to wrap around herself as she went.

And then she screamed when she saw her face.

* * *

Joanne had woken up before Maureen, but that was a given. Maureen always slept late. It was only ten and she was surprised she had even slept so late, but it probably had to do with getting home in the middle of the night after spending most of said night in the ER.

God last night had been crazy. She was tempted to call the loft and see how Mark was but decided against it. He had kicked Maureen out after all. Although she couldn't exactly fault him, she had broken his camera…

But for now it was probably best not to call.

She was in the kitchen, making breakfast when she heard the shower turn on. So the drama queen was up. She frowned, she hoped Maureen knew she had to keep the stitches dry for the first twenty-four hours. For some reason she doubted it, she hadn't exactly been paying attention while the doctor talked last night, she had been screaming about big needles and deadening skin.

The shower stopped and Joanne was just about to pour the pancake batter into the frying pan when she heard a scream and dropped said batter all over the stove. Cursing she turned off the stove and headed towards the bathroom.

"What's going on, are you alright?" she asked from the doorway. Everything looked fine, what the hell had she been screaming about?

"Oh my god my face! My beautiful faaaaace!" cried Maureen, staring at her face in them mirror, obviously in shock. She must have forgotten that part of the night before. "I have a black eye! And a cut, and it's swollen and my eyebrow is green!" she said shrilly, turning to look at Joanne.

"Did you know about this? Why didn't you warn me, I just looked in the mirror and this jumps out at me! I'm going to kill Mark!" she finished, unable to tear her eyes away from her reflection.

Joanne knew she shouldn't be trying to suppress a grin, her face did look bad, but she couldn't help it, Maureen's diva ways were ridiculous.

"Calm down baby, it wasn't Mark. Don't you remember, that fat guy kind of…well, he knocked you out cold." she told her, walking over to where she stood and pulling her slowly away from the mirror.

"Oh yeah…" said Maureen slowly as it dawned on her. "I got him good first though!" she said with a bit of triumph in her voice.

"Yes you did," Joanne told her, going through her drawers and tossing her a plain white t-shirt. "You'll need that, you're other shirt was full of blood so I threw it away."

"You threw away my shirt! Please tell me my pants are alive?" she asked, looking around the bedroom.

"Don't worry, they're over there," Joanne told her, pointing to the top of other dresser. Maureen grabbed them and pulled them on, underwear be damned. Joanne standing their be damned too, it wasn't like she hadn't ever seen her naked before. She pulled on the shirt too, giving her a nice view, before asking.

"I bet the coat's dead isn't it?"

Joanne only nodded. She couldn't trust herself not to burst out into laughter from the look on Joanne's face as she mourned her clothes.

"Does your head hurt?" she asked after a moment. When Maureen nodded she added, "There's painkillers on the counter, and did you get those stitches wet!" she asked as she followed Maureen into the kitchen.

"Maybe," she said with a grin as she popped two pills and took a swig from the glass of orange juice on the counter. "Who cares though, it's not like their going to fall out." She said with a grimace. She kind of wished they would, they were gross looking.

"So did I dream the part where Mark kicked me out?" she asked after a moment, leaning back against the counter.

"Nope, that part was real." Joanne said, going over to the messy stove and grabbing a sponge.

"Great, so I'm homeless." whined Maureen as she dropped down on a chair. "I'm going to be like that ugly, smelly bag lady at McDonalds."

Joanne smirked. "No you aren't, you can stay here for a few days until-"

She was cut off by Maureen. "Until I find a nice box." she mumbled.

"Maybe you can stay with Mimi?" Joanne offered, turning to stare at her dejected looking Honeybear. What she really wanted to say was stay here, but she couldn't. The fight and break-up was still fresh. Last night had been different, last night Maureen had needed her, and well, she wouldn't ever be able to turn away Maureen. But today she was thinking clearly. And as much as she wanted to tell her to stay here, she knew it wasn't the smartest move. It wouldn't be long until they were fighting again and everything went sour.

"Fine!" snapped Maureen, her tone snapping Joanne out of her thoughts and inner turmoil "I'll stay with Mimi, since I'm obviously intruding in your space or whatever," she said, getting up.

"That's not what I said and you know it," Joanne defended herself, but the drama queen wasn't listening and stormed off-without a coat.

Joanne closed her eyes and rubbed her forehead. She could feel a headache coming on. Why did she even bother?

Oh yeah, love.

It could be such a bitch sometimes.

* * *

**A/N: **_Okay so the lack of reviews was a real kill-joy yah know? But then again I do write for myself so I was like meh, and then I saw my first two reviews! And I got happy (: LOL. Anyway, so much thanks to_** chiqipoo **_for reviewing! Look out for chapter four soon =D_

_-Ainslee._


	4. I Feel It Taking Over

CHAPTER 4

* * *

One long, cold walk home later, Maureen was freezing her ass off and hoping Benny hadn't happened to cut off the heat again. Because all she could think of was getting warm. What had she been thinking, she should of taken Joanne's coat or something. Turns out it wasn't warm for February, it was twenty-something degrees and now she knew why the heat had been turned up so high at Joanne's place. _Only two more blocks to go,_ she told herself, glaring at some old guy who started at her. She was getting pretty fucking sick of being stared at.

"Aren't you cold?" commented another passerby, and she kind of lost it. How many times were people going to ask her that? "Of course I'm fucking cold!" she yelled at him. "Do you see me wearing a coat? My fucking girlfriend threw mine away and I forgot to grab another one because it was full of blood. And do you know why it was full of blood?" she asked the guy, who shook his head no, looking kind of scared.

"I'll tell you why because the fucking camera broke and I cut my arm, some fat guy punched me in the face and now I'm _hideous_ my ex boyfriend kicked me out and now I'm homeless too. Are you happy now?" she asked him.

"Didn't you just say you had a girlfriend?" the guy asked, backing away a little.

"Ex girlfriend!" she yelled, then stomped off. Finally the loft came into sight and she all but ran up the stairs and banged on Mimi's door. _Please don't let Roger be there, please don't let Roger be there, Please-_ "Hey Mimi!" she said with a bright smile, then pushed past her into the loft. Warmth. Thank the heavens. She grabbed the blanket on the couch and wrapped herself up in it.

"Maureen? Um that blanket-"

"Is so freakin' warm." Maureen interrupted, snuggling into it.

"Actually, I had sex on it last night."

"Ew! Mimi you just can't leave sex blankets out in the open so people can wrap them around themselves!" shouted the diva, tossing it across the room.

Mimi laughed, then came over and sat down beside her. "I tried to tell you. Besides you kind of just flew in here like a crazy person. Did you walk here without a coat?" she asked, frowning at her outfit.

"Yeah, Joanne threw it out because it was full of blood." She said with a frown. "And my shirt too. This one is hers." She pointed out, just so Mimi would know she would never wear anything as unsexy as a plain white t-shirt.

"So does this mean you and Joanne are back together?" Mimi asked, a smile on her face again. "Nope," came the subdued reply. "I stayed at her house last night but then left today. Now I'm homeless." She added, giving Mimi the trademark Maureen pout.

"What about the loft?" Mimi asked, her eyes trailing up to the ceiling.

"Mark kicked me out," she told her mournfully. "All because of his stupid camera and nose. You would think he loved me more than a camera." She told her friend with a dramatic sigh.

"Roger said he was still pissed about the camera this morning," Mimi said, fighting to hide a grin and loosing. "Anyway Mo you can stay here as long as you want, you know that." she added with a smile, brushing the diva's hair away from her face. "I've only got one bedroom though so-"

"That's great! I'll take the couch!" said Maureen brightly. "But can you do me a huge favor Mimi?" she asked, the sad look coming over her face again.

"Sure, what is it?" asked Mimi, rubbing Maureen's arm, the one without the stitches.

"I kind of left all my stuff at Joanne's, can you go get it tomorrow or something?" she asked her.

"No problem. Now, I promised I'd go with Roger and the gang to Life Support so will you be okay on your own? Unless you want to come of course?" she tacked on.

"No I'm staying here, where it's warm." said Maureen, "I'll be fine." she added dramatically, falling backwards on the couch. Mimi got up and grabbed her coat. She was almost at the door when Maureen called out from behind her.

"But my face really hurts. Like a ton. Can you get me an ice pack or something. Pleaaaase."

Rolling her eyes and smiling Mimi got the drama queen a bag of frozen peas (where the hell had they come from?) before leaving to meet Roger, Collins, and Angel.

* * *

Mimi got back kind of late that night, around twelve, because after the Life Support meeting the gang had gone to eat at Life, and then well, she had gone back to the loft with Roger. She figured Maureen would be okay, sure she couldn't cook, but she could order food or something right? She had tried calling her but no one had answered her phone. When she got into her apartment it was pitch black, so switching on the light, she looked around.

She was surprised to find Maureen in the same position on the couch she had left her almost twelve hours ago.

"Maureen, you okay?" she asked, walking over as she dropped her coat on an armchair.

"Uhm sick," came the weak, whiny reply.

"Oh chica why didn't you answer the phone when I called? I would have gotten home earlier." Mimi asked, sitting on the edge of the couch and holding back the feeling to laugh at the pitiful expression on Maureen's red blotchy face.

"Too tired to get up," moaned the drama queen. "And I'm hungry." Then she sneezed in her face.

"Ewww Mo!" exclaimed Mimi, standing up. Note to self: Keep your distance from Maureen when she's sick.

"I really don't have any food…but I'll make you a sandwich okay?"

All she got was a pathetic nod.

One sandwich and a pair of pajamas she helped the diva change into later and Mimi was climbing into bed, having of course, tucked Maureen back into her couch first.

Why did she have a feeling this was going to be a long couple of weeks? Or months even?

* * *

Maureen woke up the next morning with the stuffiest head ever. Her throat felt like sandpaper, her nose was runny and she couldn't stop sneezing and her chest hurt from all the coughing she'd been doing all night. Groaning she rolled over and fell off the couch. Oh that was right, this wasn't a bed. She couldn't roll over anymore.

Someone kill her now.

Mimi, who had been sleeping peacefully, was awakened when she heard the thud from the living room and the subsequent wail of 'my face'. Running out she stifled a giggle to see Maureen laying face down on the wooden floor.

Unfortunately, Maureen heard her. "Why is everything funny to you?" she snapped irritably, struggling to sit up. "I just fell on my face." she wailed, letting Mimi help her back onto the couch. "And my whole body aches from sleeping on the couch when I'm sick." she complained.

Mimi felt bad for laughing. Maybe that was why the next words came out of her mouth. "Oh Mo honey, you can have my bed until you feel better."

"Thanks," mumbled Maureen, getting up and heading towards Mimi's bedroom, where she collapsed on her bed. And then…

"Meems, I'm hungry."

* * *

One breakfast from McDonalds, an hour of puking, and another bag of peas for her face later Maureen was asleep on her bed, after refusing for two hours she was not going to a doctor's, she'd get well on her own thanks, and if the last time she'd gotten punched, this time she'd probably get shot. Mimi had dropped the subject knowing she wasn't going to win, and grabbing her coat, headed upstairs to Roger and Mark's loft.

Letting herself in she found only Mark, watching some of his last footage before the tragic death of his camera.

"You have to take her back!" she wailed, shocking Mark, who had never heard Mimi complain much before.

"Who?" he asked, the confusion evident on his face.

"Maureen. She showed up at my place crying about her face and now she's taken over my bed and she's sick and she's driving me crazy and it's only been a day!"

Mark smirked. "No way, I'm not putting up with that, especially not after what she did to my camera. Besides, wasn't she staying with Joanne?"

"I don't know! Joanne threw out her clothes!" cried Mimi, that was really all she knew about what had gone on there. "Oh great, I'm supposed to go get her stuff today too." she grumbled.

"Well that explains why Joanne called last night asking if I had seen Maureen." said Mark as it all dawned on him. Mimi rolled her eyes and muttered a goodbye as she left to go to Joanne's.

She had to convince her to take her back, she just had too.

* * *

Mark hadn't been able to tell her anything about Maureen when she had called him the night before to ask if Maureen had gotten to Mimi's alright. He muttered an 'I don't know' and hung up. Why the hell was he mad at her?

Joanne let it go though, she knew how much his camera had meant to him.

She had just finished lunch, glad she didn't have to go into work today, and was about to sit down and get some work done because, well, even a day off meant she didn't get some work in, when someone knocked on the door. Wondering who it was she made her way over and was surprised to find Mimi there, of all people.

"Is Maureen alright?" she asked, a little worried about why Mimi would be at her house in the late afternoon otherwise.

"She's just peachy." responded Mimi, walking in. "Joanne, you have to take her back!" she exclaimed as soon as the two were in her living room.

"What?" was all she could ask.

"Maureen you have to take her back, she's driving me crazy. She didn't wear a coat and she said you threw out her clothes and she was homeless. So I said she could stay with me. Then she got sick and fell out of the couch and I laughed and somehow I lost my bed!" she said, most of it in one breath. "Now all she wants is peas and sandwiches and she sneezed in my face and missed the toilet when she threw up and she refuses to go to the doctor's and what if she's sick forever, then I'll never get my room back! And Mark won't let her move back in and-"

She stopped talking when she saw the look on Joanne's face. It was a cross between concern, amusement, and horror.

"I told her she could stay here for awhile but she just got all angry and stormed out yesterday," Joanne told her with a shrug. "We aren't together, I'm not going to go to your place and drag her home, especially if she doesn't even want to be here." Joanne said with a frown.

"Of course she does! She just doesn't know it yet." said a desperate Mimi.

Joanne shook her head, "We're broken up remember? For good this time." The look on her face though said she obviously wished they weren't.

Mimi sighed. This was a lost cause for now. Suddenly Joanne's phone started ringing. Reaching behind her, Joanne picked it up, and after saying hello, said "Yes she's here," and held it out towards Mimi.

"No I'm not!" whispered Mimi, but Joanne had already handed her the phone.

"Hey Mo, how are you feeling baby?" Some listening. "You're hungry again? Yes I know you threw up, I had to clean it-" more listening. "McDonalds? Don't you think you'll get sick if you eat that-" More talking on Maureen's end. "Yes I came to get your stuff, no I don't have an extra coat, don't worry, we'll find something…alright I'll be back soon." Maureen hung up and she handed the phone back to Joanne who looked like she didn't know if she wanted to look worried or laugh.

"It isn't funny," Mimi whined, going to grab the box and bag with all of Maureen's stuff. Saying goodbye to her friend she was halfway down the stairs when Joanne caught up to her and handed her a hundred dollar bill.

"What's-"

She was interrupted by the lawyer though.

"Get Maureen a coat and take a cab back, you've got your hands full of stuff." Joanne told her quietly, looking away. Even when she was trying not to care, she couldn't help but care.

"Aww Joanne, that's so sweet. But are you sure you don't want to come get her and take her coat-shopping yourself?" Joanne smirked and shook her head; oh well, it had been worth a try right? - and turned to go back to her apartment. Before her door closed she called after Mimi,

"Tell her you bought it."

* * *

**A/N: **_Another chapter in one day! YAY. Lol, I just had to get this chapter out. It's a long one too! So some reviews would be nice. (: Anyway, hope you liked it, let me know!_

_-Ainslee.  
_


	5. I Better Find Your Love

CHAPTER 5

* * *

When Mimi got back to her apartment Maureen was awake and flipping through a magazine. "Are you feeling any better?" Mimi asked her hopefully as she dropped all the bags on the bed, set down Maureen's stuff on the floor, and collapsed on the end of the bed. Maureen leaned forward and started going through the stuff.

"Yeah, kind of. Oh, McDonalds!" she squealed happily pulling out her burger while with the other hand she checked the contents of the unfamiliar bag. "Oh Meehmz chew shouldn't haff." she said with a mouthful of food as she pulled out the beautiful black leather jacket. "Wait a minute," she said after she swallowed, looking at her suspiciously, "How could you even afford this?"

"Um…I found some money on my way back, it's our lucky day huh?" responded Mimi, remembering Joanne didn't want Maureen to know she had paid for it. Plus Mimi had a feeling Maureen wouldn't accept it if she knew who it was coming from. The diva tossed the jacket down and lunged forward to embrace Mimi in a tight hug. "Thanks Meems, I know I've been a pain and stuff…" she added, sitting back and taking a bite out of her burger.

Mimi felt kind of bad now for having been annoyed with Maureen, they were friends and she was sick. Maureen would do the same for her, right? She couldn't help but feel though that living with Maureen would get a lot easier from now on.

She would never have imagined how wrong she would be.

The rest of the afternoon passed without any hitches, Maureen didn't throw up her lunch, she moved herself back to the couch, telling Mimi she should sleep in her own bed, and she didn't do much but lay on said couch and shower around eight when Mimi told her that Roger, Collins, and Angel were coming over.

She got dressed too, in a pair of tight jeans and a red tank-top, running a comb through her curls and letting them air dry. "Is Joanne coming over too?" she asked Mimi as she came into the main room of the loft, shaking her wet hair.

"No, Angel said she called her but she's busy with work or something," Mimi said looking over her shoulder at Maureen, who soon joined her on the couch.

"Why? Do you miss her?" asked Mimi, trying not to look too interested because then Maureen might clam up.

"No. We've been broken up for like two weeks Mimi. The other night, she just felt bad for me. If I can let go of it, the rest of you should be able to let go too." said Maureen, leaning back on the couch.

Mimi rolled her eyes, let go of it her ass, that's why she was asking if Joanne would be here right…

Her thoughts trailed away from that subject though as the rest of the gang - sans Mark who was still pissed off, got there.

* * *

"You are sooooo drunk!" exclaimed Mimi, several hours later, her words slurring a bit as she watched Maureen dance on top of her coffee table. "If that thing breaks and you tear your stitches I ain't taking you to the hospital." she added.

Collins, Roger and Angel quickly chimed in, "Neither am I."

"S'kay though," said Roger with a smirk, "She could call Joooooanne."

"Shut up Roger," whined Maureen as she jumped off the coffee table, lost her balance, and fell on top of Collins. "I am sooo over Joanne. You have like, no idea."

"Whatever, enough love talk," proclaimed Collins, "Let's play a game."

"Ooh! What kind of game?" asked Angel, while Roger just shook his head and said "No way Collins, why do you always want to play these stupid games?"

"Because they're fun?"

"Yeah Roger remember the time…" started Maureen, then stopped. She was so drunk she didn't remember what she was going to say anymore. This was found extremely hilarious by the entire group, who burst into laughter.

Collins seemed to have forgotten about the game and was now lighting a joint. Maureen grinned.

"Meems, I'm so glad-" pause. "That you let me stay here. Joey never let me smoke in the house."

"Joey?" repeated Roger and started laughing again, earning him a kick to the shins from Maureen.

"Shut up."

"Wow Mo' you just can't stop talking about _Joey_ huh?" muttered Collins with a laugh as he took a drag from the blunt then passed it to her. Maureen simply sulked for a few minutes before saying. "I know a game I want to play…"

* * *

Joanne was sitting home alone and miserable. She tried to focus on work but her thoughts kept being invaded by a certain curly-haired brunette. Was she feeling better? Was she taking care of her stitches? Did she miss her as much as she did? Oh and the fact that they could be having sex right about now instead of Joanne just sitting here, her work forgotten, trying to watch some lame show on TV.

Then the phone rang. Frowning as she wondered why anyone would be calling so late, she reached behind her and grabbed it before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Joanne Jefferson?" asked a deep, muffled voice.

"Yes?" she said, her slight worry turning the statement into a question.

"Joanne Jefferson, sometimes known as pookie who's a lawyer? The Joanne Jefferson who has lacy lavender underwear no one is supposed to know about?"

"Okay, who is this?" she asked, now a little annoyed there seemed to be no point to this phone call. She could of sworn someone laughed in the background, then said 'ouch'.

No one spoke for several moments and she heard a distinctly female voice say "No that's stupid," and then someone new came on the line.

"If you ever want to see your penis again then you better give us the money."

"Mimi you idiot, you're supposed to state the ransom first." Came the unmistakable voice of Maureen in the background.

"Give me the phone." Maureen again.

"No, you're drunker than me and Roger, what makes you think you can do it better?"

Joanne was too engrossed in listening to them as if they had forgotten she was on the line, to hang up. And now she knew the first voice she heard had been Roger.

"I'm not drunk. It's all Nyquil." Someone, maybe Angel, said "Suuuure."

"You're an idiot Mo' you know you can't drink when you're on meds right?" That was Collins.

"It's okay though…I had the Nyquil ages ago. During the day." giggled Maureen as if this was the funniest thing in the world. "Now, give me the phone Meems!"

There was some sort of scuffle and then:

"We have your penis and we're not afraid to use it."

Laughter in the background and then Mimi yelled "Lets call Mark next!" and the line went to dial tone as they hung up.

* * *

"Oh my god that was so funny!" said Maureen as she hung up. "Do I come up with the best games or what?"

Roger nodded and Mimi was too busy laughing to say anything.

"Do you think she knows it was us?" asked Maureen after a moment. "We didn't use any names right?"

"No, I was careful…" said Mimi.

"Yeah, I didn't call any of you by name," added Roger.

"Okay. Good. Now lets do Mark." giggled Maureen as she dialed the number to the loft upstairs.

Six rings later and just as she was sure the machine was going to pick up, Mark came on the line.

"Hello?"

"Hello Mark." said Maureen in a higher tone of voice than usual.

"Who is this?" asked Mark, he sounded like he had been woken up.

"Mark baby this is Elizaaaaa."

"Eliza who?"

"Eliza, the soul of your dead cameraaaa!"

This cracked all the boho's up. Suddenly when Mark spoke again his voice was angry.

"This isn't funny, I'm hanging up now."

"But Mark, don't you love me any-" Click.

"He hung up." frowned Maureen, sounding surprised, then they all collapsed into laughter again and Collins picked up a bottle of vodka.

He was about to pass it to Roger when they heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Oh my god its Mark." cried Maureen, running into Mimi's room and locking herself in.

Mark opened the door to Mimi's place and looked around the four people sitting around the couch, trying to look innocent.

"Eliza huh? Where is she?"

"She um, had to go…" said Collins, not sure if Mark was referring to Maureen or well, Eliza.

Mark glared at them and left, slamming the door.

"I better go talk to him before he throws himself off the roof." said Roger, standing up to go.

"Yeah we better go too, its late," said Angel and Collins stood up too. Several minutes later after they had said their goodbyes, Mimi made her way over to her bedroom, only to find Maureen passed out on her bed.

So much for thinking she had her bed back.

* * *

**A/N: **_Some drama-free filler! YAY. Hah, in the next chapter Maureen is still sick and has another problem on top of that. Come on, you saw those stitches becoming a problem I'm sure. (; So I'm not going to give away too much. That'd be lame. Anyway, some feedback would be nice, especially since I'm writing so quickly XD. Must be the music. Thanks to those two wonderful people who reviewed 3  
_

_-Ainslee.  
_


	6. I Better Find Your Heart

CHAPTER 6

* * *

One week of living with Maureen later and Mimi was proud of herself. Proud she hadn't been driven crazy yet that is. She had gotten her bed back the day after Maureen had passed out drunk on it but other than that, the week had been a disaster. She didn't know how Joanne or Mark could actually have lived with Maureen and liked it. She loved Maureen and all but the drama queen was driving her nuts. She was demanding and bossy, maybe it was just because she was sick, or depressed over Joanne, but all she did was lay on the couch and ask for things, and complain about the fact there was no food. She refused to go to the doctors and now she was coughing so much at night Mimi could barely fall asleep. She hadn't left the apartment since she had moved in either, and after that drunken night she had drunk dialed Joanne hadn't mentioned her again. Mo had kind of fallen into a sick, lazy, funk.

And Mimi intended to snap her out of it, somehow.

She woke up late on Saturday to the shower running and smiled, that was a good thing. Maureen hadn't showered in days, claiming she was too sick to even move. Rolling out of bed Mimi checked out the contents of the fridge - zilch in the food department, and then checked out her wallet. She had enough to go get them breakfast. Five minutes later after Maureen had finished her shower and was drying herself off and changing in the living room, Mimi hopped in for a peaceful shower of her own.

Or not. The peacefulness was interrupted by someone knocking on the glass shower door. A surprised Mimi screamed and dropped the soap, some shampoo trickling down into her eye where it immediately began to burn. Eye watering she slid open the shower door only to find Maureen standing there, half dressed and looking well…horrible.

"Wow Mo you don't look so good…" she said, she hadn't really noticed her pale sickly complexion, the bags under her eyes, or any of the other small things before. She hadn't done much other than lay on the couch like a lump after all. "Why are you sneaking up on me in the shower anyway?" she asked, rubbing her irritated eye.

"Look at it!" exclaimed the diva and a minute later her arm was being pushed up into Mimi's face. "Look at it, it's disgusting! Why does it look like this?"

Mimi brushed her hair out of her eyes and grabbed Maureen's wrist with her hand to steady her arm and get a good look.

"Ew Mo," she said as she stared at the stitches on her arm. "How do we know if they're infected, what did the doctor say?"

"I don't know," whined Maureen, "I wasn't paying attention."

Mimi stared at her arm. She was no doctor but she was pretty sure the swelling and redness wasn't normal, and when she touched it lightly her skin was warm…ew did it just ooze? Yep something was up with those stitches.

"Go wait for me on the couch I'll be right out." she instructed Maureen who surprisingly made no more dramatic comments and left the bathroom.

Five minutes later a fully clothed Mimi was wrestling with Maureen for the phone.

"Stop tugging it you're going to break the line!" she yelled as Maureen tugged harder on the phone, Mimi tugging on the base.

"You are not calling Joanne. She's not my mother Mimi. You just can't call her for every little thing that happens. What part of broken up don't you get?"

"You're still friends Mo! Besides she was with you at the hospital and she was probably paying attention when the doctor was talking."

"Nooooooo. I'll just go down to the hospital so they can take a look at it."

"Give. Me. The. Phone." yelled Mimi and gave a surprisingly hard yank just as Maureen sneezed and relaxed her grip. Mimi flew backwards but she had the phone and while Maureen was wiping her nose on the blanket she punched in Joanne's work number.

Thankfully Joanne answered on the third ring, just as Maureen was realizing Mimi was on the phone.

"Hey Jo, it's Mimi, listen the night you went to the-"

"I told you not to call her!" came the over dramatic whine and then the sound of someone loosing their breath-Maureen had tackled Mimi onto the couch.

"Maureen - get … off… me!"

"Give me the phone!"

Joanne was getting more and more confused as to what the hell was going on and she had a meeting to get too. "Mimi just call me at home tonight." she said, "I've got to run."

"No wait!" cried Mimi, succeeding in pushing the weakened Maureen (thank you cold) off her. Putting the phone to her ear all she got was a dial tone.

"Boy that was a close one," said Maureen as Mimi slowly hung the phone up and counted to three in her head.

"Okay girl, get up. We're taking you to the hospital so that doctor can check out your arm. And the cold."

There was no argument from Maureen who didn't want a rotting arm and by now, was sick of being sick and looking like crap.

* * *

Five hours later and thankfully no more fat guys and Maureen and Mimi were walking into the Life Café to meet some of their friends for dinner. Both were extremely hungry not having eaten all day. Maureen was in a good mood having been given pain meds and antibiotics which she had popped together and having had the stitches removed and her arm bandaged. They were the first ones to arrive so they took their usual table and impatiently waited for their friends to get there because they were starved.

Collins and Angel arrived next and then Roger slouched in, sitting beside Mimi and informing the group Mark wasn't coming. After half an hour had passed and there was still no sight of Joanne, Maureen demanded they all order now before she die of starvation. The food was just arriving when Joanne walked in.

"Sorry Jo we tried to wait but Maureen was 'starving to death'" he said, quoting Maureen who only grinned since her mouth was full of food.

"It's fine." was the only comment from Joanne, who placed her own order and then asked Mimi, "So what was it you were calling about this morning?"

Mimi, who had also been starving, swallowed her giant mouthful before explaining.

"Mo's arm was all gross and infected but she couldn't remember what the doctor had said about stitches so I was calling to see if you did." as soon as the rushed explanation was out she was stuffing her face too.

"Oh." was all that came out of Joanne, who was wondering why Maureen had been yelling in the background 'I told you not to call her.'

What did that mean? Maybe the space between them meant she was starting to move on…

Joanne knew that's what people did when they broke up, well most of them, but it still didn't make the thought any easier.

Nor did that fact that they obviously weren't speaking much anymore since the day a week ago Maureen had stormed out of her apartment. Throughout the whole night Maureen barely looked at her and only spoke to her when she had too, and later on a bit more after she had drunk a few beers.

The friends all went their separate ways around eleven, Collins and Angel back to Collin's place, Roger to the loft, Maureen with Mimi to what was now 'their' place, and Joanne back to her empty, lonely apartment.

* * *

**A/N: **_okay so i know this chapter is short and fails in the excitement department D: but for one, i just wanted to update SOMETHING, and two, i got another idea for a story (which i'm tweaking at the moment) while i was typing so i cut it off early. also it's boring, i'll try and bring some excitement in the next chapter! oh and sorry i took so long to update, but i've got the swing of things again so i will probably be updating quickly again! leave me some comments! and thank you to the wonderful people who reviewed (:_

_also, i will be updating 'this little light of mine' sometime soon, in the next few days probably. hopefully it will be loads better and longer than this!  
_

_-ainslee._


	7. I Bet If I Give All My Love

After a few days of the antibiotics Maureen's cold was as good as gone, which was great news for Mimi, who was preparing to fling herself off the roof if she didn't get her bed back soon. And that wasn't the only problem the dancer had this month either. With Maureen eating up her extra money or demanding things everyday, like magazines and cigarettes, because she was 'sick and her guest' the dancer could barely afford to make rent or pay the bills. Maureen's complaining and lazing about didn't help much either.

* * *

Maureen woke up that day, back on the couch, feeling colder than usual. Shivering under her two blankets she sat up, trying to figure out why it was so _cold_. Had Mimi left the window open last night? She had started to climb out from under her blankets but found it was way too cold for her to be walking around the apartment in her shorts and tank top. So, wrapping herself up like a mummy she headed towards Mimi's bedroom.

She pushed the door open with a bang, scarring Mimi out of her sleep. The dancer bolted up in her bed and Roger rolled over, falling out of it. Maureen couldn't suppress her laughter at that, which earned her a few choice curses from Roger.

"Maureen it's seven a.m.," grumbled Mimi, "Since when do you get up so early?"

"Since I'm out there turning into a snowman from the cold," sniffed Maureen. "I'm sick you know. It isn't nice to freeze a sick person who also happens to be your friend…and your guest."

Mimi groaned and lay back on the bed and Roger, who was climbing back into it, added, "You know, it is kind of cold in here…"

His girlfriend covered her head with a pillow and rolled onto her side, determined to ignore them both.

"Well, I'm not just going to freeze." said Maureen, and got no response as they were both covering themselves and settling back into the bed.

"Are you ignoring me!" she demanded, her hands on her hips now, the blanket still wrapped around her.

"Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety nine bottles of beer. Take one down and pass it around, ninety eight bottles of beer on the wall. Ninety eight bottles of beer on the wall, ninety eight bottles of beer. Take one down and pass it around, ninety seven bottles of beer on the wall…"

Maureen got all the way to sixty five bottles of beer on the wall before Mimi and Roger couldn't take it anymore.

"Oh my god, do something before I kill her and stuff her dead body under the bed." complained the rocker.

"Maureen, just… sleep here until we figure out why it's cold later."

"Aw, really Mimi? You didn't have too," came the reply from the diva as she climbed into bed with Roger and Mimi, snuggling down between the both of them and yanking the blanket on both ends until she had more than enough and Roger and Mimi had barely enough.

Later that afternoon, at what the boho's deemed an appropriate time to wake up, Mimi and Roger where out in the living room as Maureen checked the fridge for the fifth time.

"You know food isn't going to magically appear since the last time you checked," said Mimi, an amused smile on her face.

"Joanne's fridge always had food. And heat." grumbled the cranky diva. The friends had just found out Mimi's power had been cut off since she was behind on the rent.

"You know we can't stay here, not now anyway, it's still too cold out…" muttered Mimi. Maureen just stared at her, and shrugged, apparently not getting where the dancer was going with it.

"Roger said I could move in with him in the loft." she tacked on, looking down.

Maureen stared at her blankly.

"I asked Mark but he's still pissed off at you and he said you couldn't-"

It was now that Maureen finally realized where Mimi was going with it.

"Oh my god, you're abandoning me for sex!"

"Maureen, I'm not abandoning you for sex, it's February, it's freezing out and we don't have any heat or power. We can't stay here."

"So Miss. Moving in with Roger, where am I supposed to stay?" questioned Maureen in a huff.

"Well, Roger was thinking we could sneak you into the loft and…"

"Sneak me in? I'm not a cat!" she yelled angrily.

"I had a better idea though, maybe…just until I get the power back on…you could stay with Jo-"

"I am so not asking her if I can stay with her! Have you lost your mind Mimi?"

"Okay how about Collins?"

"Ew, him and Angel can never keep their hands off each other, I'll go crazy or become depressed."

Mimi groaned and lay down on the couch as Roger got up and headed towards her room.

"I know what this is about." said Maureen, more like shrilled, "This is about the whole stealing your bed, eating your food stuff. You just hate having me for a roommate."

"No it's not-" tried to defend Mimi, but Maureen talked over her.

"I saved Tent City for a reason, well for now anyway, but still. If you need me you know where to find me." huffed Maureen, and she grabbed her bag then started tossing clothes in.

"But that's no different than this cold apartment, you might as well stay here." complained Mimi.

"This cold apartment reeks of betrayal and lies." came the overdramatic response from Maureen. "Besides I'm sure in a few days I'll have hooked some sucker and be staying with him." she finished with a smug smile. Adjusting her bag over her shoulder she turned and stomped out of Mimi's apartment without a backwards glance or another word, slamming the door hard as she exited.

"Well that didn't go as we planned," said Roger as he came out of Mimi's bedroom.

"Joanne and Collins are going to kill me," was the only thing the dancer said in reply.

* * *

**A/N:**_ The world's shortest chapter, I know! Sorry it's not longer but I promised updates all-around a month ago and I've been super busy since. So I wanted to put something up since my two other stories are so under-updated. I'm not happy with this chapter but I hope it's somewhat acceptable. Lol. If you spot any errors let me know, I was way to quick in re-reading and I'd like to go back in and fix any mistakes. Also, comments and reviews are always appreciated (:_

_-Ainslee.  
_


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